Nappy choice and the environment
Some nappy facts:
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In the first two years of its life a baby can use 5500 nappies
8 million nappies are thrown away every day in the UK
That means nearly 3 billion are thrown away every year
90% of these nappies end up in landfill sites where they will stay mainly unchanged
It costs local authorities a lot of money each year to get rid of nappies (for example, Bristol
City Council estimates it costs them about half a million pounds).
What options are available to people choosing nappies? What is the best solution for the
environment?
Suppose you are the manager of ‘The Green Nursery and Childcare Centre.’ You have made a
commitment to your customers that your nursery will be the most environmentally friendly one in
the area. You have bought wooden toys, you have a large garden for the children to play in and
you have good quality, wholesome food for them to eat.
Now you have to think about what type of nappies you will use for the children in your care.
You want to use a good, reliable product (you do not want leaking nappies on all those babies!)
but you also want to make sure it is good for the children and for the environment.
At the same time, you have to keep an eye on your profits. You need to find a solution that
does not cost too much or you will not make any money.
There are two main options available to you:
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Disposable nappies
Reusable cotton nappies.
If you use the reusable nappies you can either wash them yourself or get a nappy laundry
service company to do it for you.
To decide which product is best for the environment you need to do a ‘life cycle analysis.’ The
analysis involves looking at how the nappies are made, used and disposed of and considering
how these processes affect the environment.
When you have decided which type of nappy to use, you will need to produce a leaflet to
explain your choice to the parents of the children at your nursery.
Use the information cards to help you complete the data table and compare the two options.
Most of the information on the cards is for 1000 nappy changes – this is not the same as 1000
nappies.
Find out about the costs associated with each type of nappy. For the reusable nappies,
compare the cost of washing them at the nursery with using a nappy laundry service. If you
decide you want to wash them yourself you will probably need to employ another member of
staff at least part time to do the laundry.
Nappy choice and the environment – page 1 of 3
Index 6.3.2
Questions
1.
Which of the nappy options uses less raw materials?
2.
Which causes more water pollution from pesticides and other pollution?
3.
Which produces a smaller amount of solid waste?
4.
Which do you think causes less harm to the environment?
5.
About 85% of parents in the UK use disposable nappies. Why do you think this
percentage is so high?
Do you need to know anything else before you make the decision about which sort of nappies to
use? If so, try to find the information you need. When you have decided, make your leaflet for
parents.
Nappy choice and the environment – page 2 of 3
Index 6.3.2
Nappy choice – data table
Factor
What the nappy is made of
Disposable nappies
Reusable cotton nappies
Making the nappies
Mass of plastics used (kg)
Mass of paper used (kg)
Mass of cotton used (kg)
Energy used (kWh)
Water used which will be polluted
afterwards (dm3)
Are pesticides used?
Total raw materials used (kg)
Using the nappies
How many times is the same
nappy used?
Energy used in laundry (kWh)
Mass of detergents used (kg)
Water used which will be polluted
afterwards (dm3)
Disposing of the nappies
Mass of waste (kg)
Where solid body waste (faeces)
ends up
All data per 1000 nappy changes
Nappy choice and the environment – page 3 of 3
Index 6.3.2